Best Microwave for College Dorm Review

Feeding oneself in a college dorm room is a challenge, you want to be able to cook for yourself, however, dorm rooms do not exactly have fully equipped kitchens. That is why in every dorm, the single most valuable, most indispensable piece of cooking equipment is the dorm room microwave.

Whether you’re heating ramen for late-night cramming, making popcorn for a movie night with friends, or bringing leftovers back to life, having an efficient, reliable microwave for your dorm room is essential.

Here’s the tricky part: what college microwave should you get?

There are tons of microwaves for dorm rooms on the market, how can you parse out which one is best for you?

Luckily, we did the hard work for you, compiling this list of the best dorm room microwave reviews to fit your needs, full of excellent, affordable, small-to-mid-sized microwaves for college dorms, enjoy!

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Best Microwave For College Dorm Comparison Table

Model	Wattage	Cu.ft	Price
Toshiba EM131A5C-BS	1100	1.2
Panasonic NN-SB458S	900	0.9
Nostalgia RMO4AQ	800	0.9
Amazon Basics	700	0.7
BLACK+DECKER EM720CB7	700	0.7
Whirlpool 0.5 Cu Ft	750	0.5

• Best Overall Microwave for College Dorms: Toshiba EM131A5C-BS

Our Rating: 4.8/5

This beautiful Toshiba microwave is the cream of the crop of college microwaves. It combines a sleek stainless steel design with superior functionality and cooking ability. It’s an incredible machine that sports 1100 watts of cooking power with 10 different cook settings, giving it the capability to swiftly and efficiently heat foods. What’s more, it comes with a calibrated, pre-programmed sensor to optimally heat popular foods such as potatoes, pizzas, frozen vegetables, and rice.

There is an easy one-touch popcorn button and two different settings to efficiently defrost foods. Not only that, but there are functions to automatically melt or soften cheese, butter, or ice cream, taking the guesswork out of it.

The cooking prowess of this microwave is complemented by bells and whistles such as a large digital display, clock, kitchen timer, a sound on/off option, and Eco mode.

It is a mid-sized microwave that will fit snugly in your dorm room without taking up too much space. Another great feature is the large 1.2 cubic foot cooking capacity, meaning plates, bowls, and containers of all shapes and sizes can fit in this microwave.

Finally, it is backed up by a 1-year warranty on the off chance anything goes wrong. For this price, this microwave is a great investment that is sure to pay many delicious dividends in your dorm room.

For More 1100-Watts microwaves check this article.

• Runner Up Microwave for College Dorms: Panasonic NN-SB458S

Our Rating: 4.4

This Panasonic compact microwave is the height of dorm room convenience, making it one of the best microwaves for college dorms. This unit has an attractive black exterior that will seamlessly blend in with your décor. It is small, light, and easy to transport, and fits into the dorm.

However, the smaller size doesn’t cut down on interior space, it has a roomy cooking space of 0.9 cubic feet. It features 900 watts of efficient cooking power, meaning your food will heat up almost as quickly as the high-end units.

Moreover, there are 7 auto cook features to perfectly heat potatoes, pizza, beverages, fresh and frozen vegetables, and fresh and frozen entrees. Simply press the auto cook button and get it right every time, no guesswork involved. But what’s the greatest cooking feature of this microwave?

It has 3 different settings for popcorn of different sized bags, so you never have to suffer the injustice and bad smell of burnt or un-popped popcorn again. Not only that, but this machine has a keep warm feature, allowing you to keep vegetables, soups, leftovers, gravies, and other foods warm until they’re ready to be served.

This is an easy-to-use, easy-to-clean, quiet, and efficient microwave that you can depend on. Incredibly, all of these amazing features, customer reviews come at a bargain price. If you’re looking for an exceptional, convenient, and reliable dorm room microwave, look no further.

• Best Retro Dorm Room Microwave: Nostalgia RMO4AQ

Our Rating: 4.3/5

Do you require style and flair in your dorm room? If so, then this is the college microwave for you. Featuring a fun, splashy retro design in a compact body, this unit will bring a funky 50’s style diner vibe to your dorm.

From the digital clock to the chrome-plated viewing window, to the sleek, shiny chrome door handle, this unit screams retro style. Conveniently, it is also available in a range of vibrant colors, meaning you can match your microwave with the rest of the room.

But don’t worry, this beauty isn’t all flash, it also has great cooking features. With 800 watts of cooking energy, it’s not a powerhouse but it can quickly and evenly heat foods you might be eating in a dorm.

The 12 pre-programmed cook settings make cooking items such as potatoes, frozen veggies, pizza, and popcorn a no-brainer. What else sets this microwave apart?

Instead of a bunch of buttons on the front, it sports a stylish, easy-to-use control knob, allowing you to seamlessly navigate through the many cooking options. A big plus of the control knob is that you don’t have to hear a loud, irritating beep every time you push a button.

This light and compact machine can move in and around your dorm room easily. But the compact size doesn’t compromise the interior cooking space, it has 0.9 cubic feet, which can easily fit a large plate and a variety of other cooking vessels.

• Best Value Dorm Room Microwave: Amazon Basics

Our Rating: 4.0/5

On a shoestring college budget? That’s where this Amazon Basics microwave comes in. This microwave easily fits into even the tightest of budgets. Even if you’re not on a strict budget, maybe you’re the kind of student that eats most of their meals at the campus café, or perhaps you have a job in food service where you get meals.

Either way, if you won’t be heating up much more than soup in a cup or the occasional bag of popcorn anyway, this is a great college microwave for you.

Despite its low price, this machine still gets the job done. It features a turntable for even heating, a timer, and ten power levels to easily cook plenty of commonly microwaved foods to perfection.

It’s a fairly small unit, so you may have to use smaller bags of popcorn and smaller bowls or containers to fit into it. On the plus side, it won’t take up much space in your dorm room. This microwave cooks with 700 watts of energy, so it may take a little longer to heat things than other models.

But with a little patience, the food will cook just fine. If you have an Amazon Echo, you can easily pair it with this microwave and use voice commands to start and stop cooking.

Simply tell Alexa: “Heat a cup of coffee” or “cook my popcorn” and she will automatically start the microwave on the optimum settings.

• Best Affordable Dorm Room Microwave: BLACK+DECKER EM720CB7

This unit from Black+Decker is another home run for budget dorm room microwave shoppers. It comes in at a tremendous value, working just as well as some of the larger, more expensive microwaves on the market. This is a mid-sized machine that won’t take up too much space in a small dorm room. But don’t worry, the interior still houses plenty of cooking space, 0.9 cubic feet to be exact.

Features include 10 power settings, a clock and kitchen timer, and a 30-second express cooking timer. Impressively, there are six pre-programmed cook settings to perfectly heat potatoes, popcorn, frozen veggies, pizza, and beverages with just one click.

A large LED display and an easy-to-read control panel make this one of the most user-friendly microwaves for college dorms available. There is minimal set-up, simply plug it in and you’re good to go.

This microwave cooks with 700 watts, so you may need to add an extra 30 seconds to whatever you’re heating up compared to your microwave at home. Luckily, this microwave is one of the quietest cookers you will find, so you won’t wake up your roommate if you decide to heat yourself up a snack late at night.

All of these features come wrapped in an elegant design that will handsomely blend into your dorm room décor.

• Best Compact Dorm Room Microwave: Whirlpool 0.5 Cu Ft

Our Rating: 4.5/5

Dorm rooms are tight spaces. Depending on where you go to school, you might be living almost on top of your roommate with very little personal space. That doesn’t leave much room for a dorm room microwave. But here’s the good news, there are plenty of small, compact microwaves that will fit snugly in even the tiniest of dorm rooms.

Of these compact microwaves, this Whirlpool Countertop microwave is the best of the best. At dimensions of just 13.8 x 15.4 x 14.1 inches, it can easily fit on a small table or corner of a desktop to maximize counter space.

Despite its compact size, this countertop microwave has a larger actually fits more than you might think, even being able to hold an 11-inch dinner plate. You may have to get smaller bags of popcorn to cook in this microwave, but as long as you’re only cooking for yourself, this machine has plenty of interior space to cook food for one.

Of course, one of the saving graces of the small size is that this microwave is very quick and easy to clean. With 750 watts of power coursing through a smaller cooking cavity, this compact microwave packs a surprising punch, cooking foods with relative quickness and ease. It has 10 different power settings to allow you to tailor the cooking power to different foods.

Conclusion

Living in a dorm, many of your meals will come from the dorm room microwave, so it’s important to pick the right one. When deciding which unit is best for you, it’s important to consider factors such as the size of your dorm, what kind of look you want, how often you will use the microwave, what you plan on cooking in it, and what your budget is.

Whether you’re looking for the best overall microwave for your dorm room, a more stylish machine, something for a tight budget, or a compact microwave to fit into a small dorm, these picks are the best of the best.

They are all top-of-the-line, efficient, powerful, attractive, and dependable cooking machines that will make delicious food while comfortably fitting into your room and lifestyle.

Also, Read

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• Best 5 Hands-Free Can Openers For College Room And Home Kitchen

Feel free to share your observations with me in the comments section!

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